


New Shapes and Experiences

by witchybusiness



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, I'm Sorry, Oral Sex, Sleepwalking, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-06-22 04:41:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19660042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchybusiness/pseuds/witchybusiness
Summary: I love Lucios route and I needed to have smut in it, sorry guys. I did not proofread any of this and I might update it with a new chapter if anything particularly ~saucy~ happens in his route.





	1. Chapter 1

The door to the baths are, thankfully, unlocked by the time she makes it down the hall from the garden veranda. She slips inside quickly, shutting the door tightly behind her and locking it. The bathroom attendants have already been sent away, and the heated marble floors are pleasantly warm beneath her bare feet. The scents of apple, jasmine, and lemon fill the air as vapors from the bathwater dance above its surface invitingly.

The door jiggles on its hinges as she turns her back stubbornly and begins untying her dress. She rolls her eyes and scowls to herself.

"Go away, Lucio. I need to bathe, and you're not exactly the best company for  _ relaxing _ activities." She barks and steps out of her dress, now crumpled to the floor. Its bright red against the pale eggshell of the marble. A robe lays folded on a chair near the edge of the bath. She ignores it and strips completely naked, sinking into the bath water with a pleased and breathy sigh.

As she submerges herself in the water, she feels a breeze prickle the skin on the back of her neck, giving her goosebumps.

"The one time I was being polite by knocking, and you deny me, Astrid." Lucio coos back, sounding offended. He had faded through the door, like smoke made solid, his red eyes gleaming like coals even in the bright light of the room. Astrid sneers and turns to look at him over her shoulder.

"Oh, how cruel of me, my dear Count! How dare I expect privacy while bathing, being naked and exposed as I am!" She says mockingly, throwing her head back with her wrist pressed to her forehead and feigning the appearance of a fainting maiden. Her mouth is twisted in an annoyed snarl.

Lucio barks a laugh out, and it sounds unexpectedly genuine. He had floated to the other end of the massive bath now, and he stares at her with undisguised greed burning in his eyes. His gaze roams over her naked form, submerged up to her neck in the steaming water. She scowls at him again.

"Alas, you still haven't taken the hint. I'm asking you to leave, Lucio, so that for the first time in a full day I can have some peace from you." She says and begins browsing the selection of soaps and scented oils from the side of the bath.

"Ugh, I don't  _ want _ to leave. I was so  _ bored _ for  _ years _ , and now-"

"And now you think that just because I gave you your form back and bound you to me by blood that you have to spend every waking second doing your absolute best to annoy me." Astrid finishes lazily for him, selecting a hair wash and pulling herself to sit on the edge of the water. She has no shame being naked like this in front of another person: she and Asra had shared baths for years. When you live in a loft with another person, privacy is low on the list of concerns. 

"First of all, that was very rude of you. Second of all, I can be helpful! Look at me, learning to be a better person or whatever bullshit you said earlier." He says and appears behind her, undoing the knot of long black hair at the nape of her neck. It cascades down onto the floor and well past her knees. Astrid scowls at him as he uncorks the bottle and begins massaging the apple scented wash into her hair.

It's incredibly tedious, and he would much rather have  _ her _ pampering  _ him _ , but if he wants to stay on her good side, he might as well play along.

"You have entirely too much hair." He scowls as he has to open another bottle of hair wash to continue soaping her ridiculously long locks. She lets out a soft groan of approval as he begins massaging the soap into her scalp.

"Oh, do you not like it? I thought you enjoyed women with classically feminine features." She sounds sarcastic, and, surprisingly enough to herself, a little bitter. Lucio barks out another laugh as she submerges into the water to rinse her hair out. He leans close to her ear once she has emerged and slides his metal hand around her throat, just lightly enough have her know the strength it carries.

"I think you've got me pegged wrong, little witch." He purrs as he uses his free hand to stroke a line down from her jaw, to her collarbone, and down between her breasts. He's annoyed to feel her pulse beating steady and calm beneath his magical hand.

"Oh? And how should I peg you  _ right _ ?"

They both seem to freeze. Lucio can't believe that she had said that, and Astrid herself didn't seem to believe it either. She jumps back as his hand drops from her throat. Her eyes are bright and squinted nearly shut as she brings her hands up to her mouth to stifle her giggles.

At the same moment, they both break out into rancorous laughter. Astrid's laugh is bright and clear like a silver bell, and it echoes off the marble walls. Lucio falls back onto his ass with the force of laughing so hard, and his backside feels surprisingly solid against the marble as he doubles up with laughter. Astrid is gasping now, clutching her stomach like it pains her to laugh for this long.

"Oh  _ fuck _ I'm so sorry that was so  _ rude _ -"

"No, that was the  _ funniest shit _ I've heard in  _ years _ !" He barks out another laugh, and, to his own horror, snorting loudly as he tries to catch his breath. Astrid laughs even louder and crumples over the side of the bath. He scowls a little, embarrassed and pink cheeked, his pride more than hurt. He hates snorting when he laughs.

"That snort was really cute." Astrid says in a smal, tenderl voice. He hadn't even noticed that she had stopped laughing. She has her head resting on her folded arm, looking up at him with wide, green eyes. A smile touches the corners of her mouth. Lucio feels himself blush even more, and it just continues to aggravate him.

"I didn't snort!" He barks at her. She rolls her eyes, still smiling.

"Okay, whatever you say,  _ Count _ ." She turns around and slides out of the bath again, back facing him. She positions herself between his legs where he had fallen back from the edge of the water.

"What the hell are you-"

"Aren't you gonna get the rest of it with oil?" She smirks and hands him a bottle of scented oil over her shoulder. He looks at her in offended disbelief, but grumbles and decides to play nice. He knows she could banish him in an instant if she really wanted to.

Astrid hums some lost tune quietly and leans back against his nearly corporeal form as he massages the oil into her hair. She closes her eyes and rests her head against his perched knee.

"So you didn't answer my question." She says.

"The  _ pegging _ question? Yeah because it was  _ rude _ -"

"No, no, no. The one before that. About your  _ tastes _ ." She air-quotes the word and snorts derisively to herself. She can feel his hands falter just the slightest in her hair.

"Oh, that one. Well I'm not  _ exclusively _ into women. I just like attractive people, and given how stunning  _ I am _ -"

"How  _ humble _ of you, my Lord-"

"- I just think that I deserve to be with people who are  _ on my level _ . Man or woman, doesn't matter to me." Lucio finishes the statement as though he had just said something quite revolutionary and progressive. Astrid is silent for a few minutes, and she can tell Lucio is waiting for her to say something, as though she hasn't exhibited the response he had been planning for.

"Well?" He barks.

"Well  _ what _ ?" Asks Astrid, stretching her legs out over the water and making a pleased noise as her joints creak.

" _ Well _ , what about you?"

" _ What about me _ ?" She asks a little more insistently. She's enjoying getting him worked up about something he clearly finds important.

"What do  _ you _ like?" He asks. He finished applying the hair oil at this point and now buries himself rubbing scented lotions onto her shoulders and arms. It's clear this isn't something he would normally ever do, but he seems on the hook with something and needs to occupy his hands.

"Like, in lovers?" She asks. Lucio grunts a 'yes' and she can almost feel his eye roll.

"Well, I like people. People who make me laugh, mostly. I don't particularly care about gender or identity either. Just someone who's kind and will make me laugh in the morning." She finishes and stretches her arms out back over her head, throwing them lazily over Lucios shoulders. He huffs, annoyed.

"But like, how attractive do they have to be?" He asks stubbornly, as though he can't expect anyone to have standards on lovers not based around looks alone. She shrugs and plays with a lock of his hair sticking out along the nape of his neck.

"I don't really care about looks, if I'm being honest. Like I can appreciate someone who's physically attractive, but if they're not a good person than I'm not really interested I guess-" The near solid chest beneath her back disappears, along with Lucio's entire form. She can feel the room grow extremely hot again, and knows his temper is towering, though she doesn't know why.

" _ FINE! I SEE HOW IT IS _ !" His voice is demonic again now, echoing throughout the room. There is a whooshing sound as something bangs on the door, and the room grows cool again. 

She lays with her back to the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Despite the fact that she had been trying to get on his nerves, she had been honest with that question. She wonders, as she slides on the robe lying on the chair and tucking her dirty dress under her arms, why she suddenly feels so bad that she had angered him.

* * *

  
  


Throughout the rest of the day she can feel him in the room with her, or trailing behind her through the halls. Lucio was refusing to show himself, instead staying stubbornly quiet and simply allowing his temper to simmer. It  _ literally _ simmered as every room she entered became swelteringly hot. It was making the servants and housecarls so uncomfortable she decided to isolate herself in the library.

She throws open the windows and the cool breeze that welcomes her makes her clean dress flutter around her ankles. She selects a book at random from one of the tall shelves and settles herself on the cushion laden floor. She flips idly through several pages before she feels the room begin to cool off slightly.

"Done with your temper tantrum yet?" She asks slyly.

"It  _ wasn't _ a  _ tantrum _ !" Lucio's voice barks loudly. He appears again, this time settled on the couch across her from, legs crossed and looking very grumpy. It's quite cute, she thinks to herself as she dogears a page.

"Why were you upset?" She asks calmly and shifts the sleeves of her dress further down her shoulders and the room becomes hot again.

"You  _ said _ you didn't care if someone was attractive or not!" He growls again, throwing his legs up onto the couch and laying back, angrily twiddling his thumbs together.

"It's true. I don't care how attractive someone is when I sleep with them. I just want them to make me feel good." She says blithely. Lucio sits up very quickly and gestures wildly at her.

" _ Aha _ ! Exactly! How can I be attracted to someone who doesn't care about looks?" He looks a little mad, eyes twitching slightly. Astrid looks up at him, a little confused.

"You're attracted to me?" She asks, a little shocked.

"Yes, of course I am! And you don't care about appearances so I don't know how I'll ever sleep with you!" He says, completely unabashed but looking like a child whose mother took away his favorite toy just the same.

"Who said I was going to let you fuck me anyway?" Astrid asks, scowling and going back to thumbing through her book. Lucio snorts, not even having the shame to look embarrassed.

"Oh, please, of course you were going to have sex with me. Have you  _ seen _ me?" He gestures to himself, clearly forgetting that he's smoke made solid and definitely didn't have a real body. Though as Astrid thinks about it, he's probably solid enough to make it work. As she stares at his barely corporeal form, and formulates hypotheses on if/who/how long he could fuck, Lucio continues on his tangent.

"I mean, I wasn't  _ always _ thinking about having sex with you, I've just been lonely, and you're not exactly  _ hideous _ -"

_ That _ pulls Astrid out of her thoughts. She scowls and stands up off the cushions. She snaps the book shut and strolls to the door.

"How  _ kind _ of you, my  _ Lord _ ." She gives him a dirty look as she bows sarcastically and ducks out the door, slamming it shut behind her. She makes it back to her room in time to see Portia slipping down the hall and out of sight. She enters and finds a lovely meal waiting for her on a tray near the bed.

As she ate and undressed, ready for the night to bring rest and sleep, she could feel Lucios unseen presence through the other side of the door.

_ He must know what an ass he was being _ , she thinks bitterly to herself as she settles under the covers. She closes her eyes and waits for sleep to come, stewing in her own frustration and anger.

* * *

  
  


Lucio wanders the halls idly in the darkness. Night had fallen over the castle and brought with it silence and shadow. During his life, he had used this time of sleeplessness to visit his exotic pets, or go on an impromptu hunting trip, or even meet up with a lover from town.

Now, however, he waits on his  _ master _ to wake up. He growls to himself at the thought. He hadn't known how literal the binding terms of the magical contract were. He didn't know he couldn't wander  _ too _ far from her, stopping at invisible barriers in the halls that prevented him from leaving her too far behind.

_ What a joke. I used to be Count Lucio, feared by all. Now look at me _ , he thinks bitterly. He wonders when she would wake up, or if she even wanted to see him again. The idea of Astrid being mad at him makes him feel very different than when Nadia had been mad at him in life. He hadn't cared back then, simply going on with his day and ignoring any problems.

But now? Now he feels  _ guilty _ . It's a very odd thing for him to feel, let alone recognize. He shouldn't have said that she wasn't  _ entirely  _ hideous. He should have told her the truth, that he found her gorgeous and funny and sexy. He should have just swallowed his pride.

But he hadn't. Instead he had stuffed his big goat-shooed feet into his dumb mouth and pissed her off. 

As he runs into another invisible barrier preventing him from moving further, a door behind him creaks open. He spins around, and to his surprise, he sees Astrid stumbling out the door. She's naked, pale body glowing in the moonlight from the windows as though lit from within. Her long black hair hangs loose around her back as she walks slowly down the hall.

_ Is she sleep walking? _

His question is answered as she bumps lightly into the wall and keeps going, as though she was being pulled by some invisible string down the hall. He panics, knowing she definitely should stop sleeping naked if this is a normal occurrence, and hurriedly slings his fur lined cloak over her shoulders. It melts into true existence as it hits her body, and she glows even brighter as her magic seems to give it true form. 

"Astrid? Hey, Astrid!" He tries shaking her shoulder, but she ignores him. Her eyes remain closed as she continues down the hall. Lucio sighs and looks behind him.

_ No use turning back now _ . 

So he follows her, keeping an eye out for any guards or servants who might come wandering their way, but they meet no resistance.

Eventually, they arrive at the entrance to his wing. The dogs are nowhere to be found. Despite the steepness of the stairs, she does not need any help ascending them in her sleeping state.

"Why are you coming  _ here _ of all places?" He asks, at this point mostly to himself. They wander down the hall until they arrive and his old room. She walks into the closed door and bounces back, though she still does not stir. She walks into it, again and again, until Lucio twists the handle on it and leads her into the room.

It's no longer covered in ash and dust. Nadia must have sent servants in to clean the whole thing out during the day. The tapestries on the wall had been replaced, the bed looked to be in fine working order, and the once-scorched wood floors now looked shiny and new again.

As Lucio looks around in shock, Astrid makes her way to the bed. Without opening her eyes, she crawls into it, not bothering with the covers and instead just wrapping herself up more in the cloak.

"Alright, playtimes over, this is seriously creepy." He says and shakes Astrid's shoulder. Instead of waking up, however, she lets out a low moan.

" _ Lucio _ …" 

He stops and stares at her. He looks around as though waiting for someone to confirm what he had just heard.

"Okay, Astrid, this is getting very  _ weird _ , so I need you to  _ WAKE UP _ -" He tries giving a sharp tug on her hair, hoping the pain of it would wake her from her sleep. Instead, she moans again, this time louder, and reaches for his hand. He leaps back and spins around. If anyone hears her, she is going to be in deep shit. He shuts the door very quietly and turns back around to face her on the bed. She's twisting around, looking for something.

He walks over to the side of the bed, debating his next move, tugging nervously on a loose button on his pants, when Astrid twists off the bed and lands knees first on the floor, her hands flying out to grab at the closest thing they could find purchase on: Lucio's pants hemline. She gasps and her eyes fly open. She looks around, hand squeezing the waist of his pants as she panics.

"Hey, hey you're okay, you're okay. You were sleepwalking, it was super creepy and very inconvenient I might add." He reaches down and grabs her arms, lifting her up into his embrace. She clutches at him tightly, her breath coming in ragged gasps. He lifts her onto the bed and sits down with her, both of them sinking into the plush surface. He digs his face into her shoulder and takes a moment to savor the smell of her skin and hair.

"Why here?" She asks after a few moments. She looks around the room, not recognizing it besides the portrait hung across from the bed.

"Why should I know? You were the one sleep walking here, I just followed."

"Well  _ I _ don't know why I came here, I thought maybe you had seen something or heard me say something-"

It's at this point that he feels himself blush pink again. He avoids looking at her eyes and pointedly shifts his hips to the side so she can't see the bulge that had appeared in his pants.

"Nope, nothing. Didn't hear or see a thing." He says a little raggedy and tries to pry himself out of her arms, but they had become locked around him in a tight grip.

"What happened?" She asks sternly. He had never been one to shy away from these situations. In fact, had it been anyone else he would have gladly taken advantage of the situation and turned the charm up, but this is Astrid. She's different.

"Nothing, don't worry about, you were just like, saying things and moaning and-"

" _ Moaning _ ? I was  _ moaning _ ?" She yells and blushes furiously.

"Yeah I mean it wasn't a huge deal, I-"

"Oh my god is this an erection? Did you get a fucking  _ boner _ from me moaning in my sleep?"

"Okay time to stop, please, this is uncomfortable, and I  _ really _ dislike that word-"

She's laughing now, however, and looks wholly unabashed.  _ How did she change her tone around so quickly _ ? 

"Oh right, I'm sorry. You don't want to fuck me because I don't care about looks." She says in an almost holier-than-thou fashion, though she's still giggling like a lunatic. He can't tell whether she wants to still be mad or if his inconvenient erection had shaken her anger enough to forgive him. He guesses a bit of both.

"Hey that is  _ not _ what I said-"

"That is exactly what you said."

"Okay that is what I  _ said, _ but not what I  _ meant _ ." He corrects. She leans back against the cushions and snuggles into the cloak still wrapped around her. She looks at him very intensely, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"So what did you mean?" She asks, quieter than before, and this feels very serious all at once. Lucio swallows thickly. He hasn't been put to the paces like this in a while.

"I meant that, well, I'm very shallow, I can admit that freely. And the people I've been with have also been very shallow. And, well, you're not. You're not shallow, and that weirds me out a little because I still think you're very attractive, but you don't care that I'm attractive, which I clearly am." He finishes a little lamely and avoids her gaze again.  _ God, why am I blushing, what fucking witchcraft is she using on me to make me so nervous _ .

"So you're saying you want to sleep with me, but you don't know how to ask?" She says unabashedly. When Lucio nods weakly, she fiddles with the button clasp on the cloak hung around her neck. After a moment, she unfastens it and climbs expectantly into his lap.

"Alright, I'm intrigued. Not sure how well its gonna work, cause you know, I've never had sex with a ghost before."

"Never had sex  _ as _ a ghost before, so I think we'll be well suited." He bites back excitedly, and she laughs. His heart leaps into his throat as he sets a pace grinding her against him.  _ Is this what she meant by making someone laugh during sex _ ? 

She's surprisingly hot under his fingertips, and more adventurous than he would have expected. She's thumbing the buttons undone from his jacket before he can even throw the cloak onto the floor, where it fades away again into shadow.

She kisses him, hot and soft and surprisingly tender. Her mouth is much smaller than his, and it feels sweet when she swipes her tongue across his lips asking for entrance. He allows her, opening his mouth and taking the opportunity to bite lightly on her bottom lip. She groans pleasantly and presses herself back down over his erection, grinding and enjoying herself openly.

He throws her down off him and climbs over her, tugging his pants down from around his ankles. She presses a hand against his chest, forcing him away.

"Oh hell no. First time I'm having sex in almost a year and I am  _ not _ doing missionary." She scowls and grabs his wrist, pulling him up and off the bed.

"Hey, I'm not going to be ordered around, that's  _ my job _ ." He growls and yanks her back, his golden hand curling hard around her forearm. Her eyes dilate wide and her mouth drops open into a tiny, perfect 'O'. His heart drops in the most exciting way.

"Are you… into that?" He asks, thrumming with excitement. She swallows and nods slightly, and suddenly everywhere they're touching feels electric.  _ Okay, how are we gonna do this? _

"Alright. On your knees. Off the bed." He says cooly, he's thrilled to see her obey, kneeling between his legs on the floor. She looks heated, and the places where her thumbs are rubbing circles on his thighs feels so solid it's almost as though he has a body again. 

"Begin." He says as he grabs a wistful of her hair with his golden fist. She sets to work eagerly, pulling his cock out from beneath the waistband of his pants. She's got her mouth on him before he can say anything else, rolling her tongue around his head and gripping the shaft with her mouth. He groans loudly into the open room, and moves her head down him as far as she'll go. She's breathing hard through her nose and he continues his pace, fucking her mouth and gripping her hair so tightly it might rip. He watches as she slips a hand between her own thighs, fingers disappearing inside her.

"Oh, I didn't say you could do that." He growls and pulls her off of him. She gasps as her mouth is suddenly free, and he stares at her red cheeks and swollen lips.

"Sorry." She whines, and he's surprised with how submissive she's being.  _ She certainly didn't seem like the type when you first met her _ .

"Sorry,  _ who _ ?" He pulls her up by her hair and stands up. He towers over her. Her personality was so large he barely realize that she was half a foot short than him. 

"Sorry,  _ Count Lucio _ ." She spits out almost defiantly. He grins.

"That's right, baby." He flips her around and throws her over the bed, pulling her ass out to the very edge. He enters her quickly, with no preamble, and starts thrusting. It's the weirdest thing he's ever seen: solid shadow disappearing into flesh, but it's  _ working _ . She's hot and solid and  _ wet _ around him, and he pulls back on her hips with every thrust, feeling her squeeze around him as she pants and moans.  _ I wonder… _

Without warning, he raises a hand and slaps her backside with as much force as he can muster. She yelps and jumps, gazing at his reproachfully over her shoulder. He looks down and is pleased to see a large, red hand print appearing slowly over her skin.

"Sorry, just wanted to try it." He laughs, surprised with his own glee. She laughs breathlessly back, and moans when he thrusts hard against her. The rush of heat between his legs is exhilarating, given that he hadn't felt it in years. She's groaning louder now, pressing her face hard into the thick furs lining the bed. He can feel himself getting closer to the edge with every movement he makes, every sound that comes out of her.

"Say my name." He barks out and grips her hips even tighter.  _ God _ , he's so close already,  _ just a little more… _

" _ God _ , shut up and  _ just fuck me, Lucio _ !" She yells back, pushing herself harder against him and arching the base of her spine. He doesn't even have the energy to punish her, he just needs to keep thrusting, keep fucking her.

And out of nowhere, the heat building between his thighs breaks all at once, and his vision blurs around the edges as Astrid moans against him, her walls squeezing around him in rhythmic convulsions as she finishes with him. Everything in the room grows white hot as he spends himself, giving a few more feeble pumps before he slumps over next to her. 

They lay together in mutual satisfaction, panting into the open air and sinking deeper into the warm sheets.

"I can't believe I just fucked a ghost." She laughs, breathless and exhilarated. He laughs back, unable to help the wide smIle that breaks over his features.

He finally understands what she meant about laughing during sex. He had never experienced that, it had always been passion and then departure, never this wonderful moment of afterglow full of smiles and giggling.

Maybe getting stuck to her hadn't been the worst choice, he thinks as he reaches across the bed to grab her hand and hold it tenderly in his own. 

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't proofread this one. Hopefully I'll do that within the next few days. More saucy bullshit ahead.

"Look, I don't know how we ended up separated from Asra, the only person who can navigate these realms, but I'm going to blame  _ you _ ."

Lucio looked, if possible, more offended than he had ever been in his entire life. Dripping head to toe in loose snow, he balked, open mouthed like a great blonde fish, and hurt flashed through his eyes.

" _ Astrid _ , baby, I didn't do anything-" He stood quickly and shook the snow off himself like a large dog. It splattered the silk of her dress and the unfortunately bare skin of her legs.

" _ Don't call me that _ ." Astrid barked back, twisting her hair to rid it of melting frost. She was well up to her knees in the snow bank, and she wasn't exactly dressed for the weather. She could see Lucios blood boiling under his skin, the rising temper visible by the angry flush on his cheeks.

"I will  _ absolutely  _ call you that! And that's not the point! Where are we and why is this all  _ my _ fault?"

She scowled and tossed her hair over her shoulder. She marched past Lucio, knocking hard into his arm on her way past, determined to put some distance between them. She had to find Asra, or else they were screwed. Why they got separated during the fall was knowledge well beyond what she possessed right now, but she knew that if she had to spend another second with Lucio, she would kill him.

"We had sex  _ once _ , we are not  _ together _ , do  _ not _ call me any pet names. I'm going to find Asra, stick around here if you want." Astrid yelled over her shoulder. She stopped briefly to say, "And I don't know  _ how _ this is your fault, I just know that it  _ is _ ." before she marched on, pulling the hem of her dress up to her thighs. It was much to thin for the weather, a simple red kimono-style dress much more suited for sunny Vesuvia than for wherever they were now. She could hear Lucio struggling to catch up behind her. All trimmed in fur and luxurious fabrics, he was probably fairing much better than her at the moment.

"Why is it always about Asra? No one ever asks  _ me _ how I'm doing-" Lucio whined and kept up with her strides easily. Astrid spun around and grabbed his ear, pulling him down the six inches to her face so they were eye level. 

"All I've heard over the last three days is how much of an  _ attention whore you are. _ I don't  _ care _ how you're doing right now. We need Asra to get out of here or I'm going to freeze to death." She growled at him, their faces barely an inch apart. She seethed with frustration, the muscles in her shoulders tensing tightly. Lucio blinked blankly back at her.

"Hey, how are you grabbing me like that?" He asked, wrinkling his brows and tugging lightly at her wrist. Astrid blinked back stupidly, stepping back and releasing him. She looked at him now, fully and clearly, the first time since they had landed together into the snow bank. He was  _ solid _ . Real. Flesh and bone and warmth. She had never known him before he had become spectral, and despite his behavior, he was indeed just as handsome and radiant as he had been described. Despite all his looks and posture, he was still unbearable to be around. 

"You're… you're solid." Astrid said softly. Lucio lept back and grabbed at himself excitedly, as though her words had confirmed the very thing he was most excited to hear. He ran his hands across his open jacket, through his hair, and over the fur of his cape. A look of child-like thrill broke over his face like a wave across a ship, and Astrid thought she'd be knocked over by the force of his excitement. His smile was radiant.

"I'm me again!" Lucio laughed joyously and grabbed Astrid around the waist. He lifted her easily and spun her in a large arc before setting her down and kissing her full on the mouth. It was brief, chaste, even, but the memory of their one encounter still simmered sinfully in the back of Astrid's mind. She tamped it down as he stepped back and grinned eagerly. He waggled his brows ridiculously, as though he could see into where her mind had wandered in that split second. 

"Wanting to come back for seconds now, huh?" Lucio purred. He popped open the top few buttons of his jacket (sans shirt, of course, the absolute tool) and leaned against the tree closest to them. He struck a casual yet (embarrassingly so) seductive pose, seeming to invite her to step closer. A stray snowflake landed on his bare chest and melted immediately. Astrid laughed despite herself.

"Well I can't say I'm surprised. A fine specimen such as myself is a hot commodity, my darling Astrid. You should invest before someone else comes along." Lucio drawled out. He looked expectantly at her, like a parent welcoming a petulant child back with open (yet condescending) arms. Astrid smiled minutely. Oh, she could play this game. Just not the way he wanted.

She fanned herself dramatically, letting the low hemline of her dress dip dangerously across her breasts (which she took great care to heave) as she ran a hand down the length of her exposed thigh.

" _ Oh _ , Count Lucio,  _ please _ , I can't help myself, take me  _ now _ ." She moaned and leaned back quickly against the tree behind her, as though a fainting spell was about to take her. Lucio balked in shock, still holding his pose, but his attitude completely shocked.

"Wait, really?" He asked in surprise, though he actually sounded interested. Astrid snorted and spun back around, marching across the frozen woods as Lucio stared after her in shock. Her little ploy had gotten her a full and blissful forty-five seconds of Lucio-free silence before he had managed to catch up to her. He walked beside her quietly for a few moments before speaking. 

"You were just kidding, then?" He asked. Astrid rolled her eyes. She had always been a very patient person, but something about spending time with Lucio had shortened her fuse dramatically. Especially after their last incident together. That had led to Lucio never letting her out of his sight, always talking and asking questions and being  _ very _ touchy. He was clingy beyond clingy, always asking for reassurance and attention.

"Yes, Lucio, I was just kidding. This is not the most practical place for a hook-up, lest we forget." Astrid said sternly, continuing her march towards what her magic told her was a path. Whether it led to Asra or not was a mystery, but it was something.

"So, if we were in a more  _ practical _ place, we'd mess around?" He Lucio asked. He sounded like a dog waiting to hear the word 'treat'.

"Why do you care?" Astrid asked as they weaved between trees. Her legs were numb now. They would need to find some shelter soon. 

"I care because I like you, I guess. You're this hotshot magician, and hot as hell to boot." Lucio said, quite candidly. It surprised Astrid so much she stopped and turned towards him. The honesty seemed to have shocked Lucio too, because he looked flushed and uncomfortable and avoided eye contact with her. He flushed even more under her scrutiny. She looked at him for a few moments before turning and continuing down the unseen-but-definitely-there path. Her demeanor softened, and she felt a slight tenderness towards him. He was insufferable, but he made her laugh and she never felt like she was in danger when she was with him. She felt her mind wander again to the night three-days prior. It  _ had _ been enjoyable. And it would be better  _ now _ because Lucio had a physical form that she could touch and kiss and  _ bite _ all she wanted. She debated whether or not sating this sudden hunger in her would be worth the hassle later.

"Alright. Maybe if we find shelter, and we definitely should because I'm freezing to death out here, we could  _ possibly _ remove our clothes to  _ share _ heat. It's survival one-oh-one. And if something happens during that time, I guess I wouldn't be opposed to it." Astrid relented after a few minutes of silent travel. Behind her, she could have sworn she felt Lucio punch the air in victory, but she decided to ignore that and save him a little dignity.

"But," She amended, "only if we keep quiet until we find a spot to rest for a bit. No talking, no touching, or you get  _ nothing _ ." She expected Lucio to reflexively say something snarky, but he stayed silent, though she could feel his excitement radiating from him.

They walked in silence for what felt like a quarter of an hour until they came upon a tree different from the others. Where the ones they had seen throughout the forest so far were thin and black and stretched infinitely into the sky, this one was massive: nearly twice as big across as one of them laying down. It had a small gash in the front, large enough for a person to slip through. Without a word, they headed towards it together. Astrid slipped through the cracks first, and was relieved to see it was quite spacious inside. It was pitch black, as no light seemed to enter from the world outside. She channeled her magic and cast a dim light up into the hollow tree trunk, where it settled at the top and bathed her in warm light. Lucio entered right behind her, taking extreme care to ensure his cape would not get caught on the beaches outside.

"Oh,  _ cool _ ." He gasped, looking up into the trunk of the tree, where the light dangled above them like a massive candle. "Teach me how to do that." He asked spinning towards her, his eyes twinkling.

Astrid could tell that Lucio had very little aura to him. He lacked in magical energy what she was brimming with. Maybe, though, trying to teach him would keep him distracted for a bit.

"Alright, we'll try. Something easier though, that spell takes some practice." She relented. She motioned him over to sit across from her in the center of the hollow. She complied, looking like an excited student.

"I'm going to be great at magic, I know it." He said pompously, grinning widely at her. Astrid smiles back, relaxing somewhat in the warm interior of the hollow. She traced a few symbols onto the wooden base beneath them, and with a snap of her fingers they lit up like fireworks. Lucio looked awed before he clapped his hands together.

"That! I demand you teach me that!"

Astrid laughed and stilled his hands, which were tracing over the burnt residue of the symbols with an almost greedy reverence. He stilled once she touched him, and looked up at her eagerly.

"Okay, okay. This is the most basic of beginner spells. My grandmother taught me this one when I was four." She said, showing him how to trace out the symbols. "You won't need to snap for it to ignite, you can simply clap."

Lucio traced the figures out, a look of intense and uncharacteristic concentration taking over his features. He tucked the tip of his tongue out of the corner of his mouth. It was like he was determined to succeed, to show her that he was capable in something she was as well.

The spell failed miserably. Lucio hadn't even managed to get a single spark out. Astrid was certain that Lucio had no latent magical prowess, but even she was surprised by how poorly he was doing. After an hour of struggling to explain the theory behind the spell and the technique for writing the symbols out, Lucio buried his head in his hands, looking strangely defeated.

Astrid was surprised to see him so crestfallen. He normally responded to difficult obstacles with anger and rage, but now he was simply despondent.

"Why are you so upset? It's okay if you can't do magic." Astrid soothed him while she stroked his knee. He whined pathetically.

"You don't get it."

"What don't I get, Lucio?"

"I want to do magic because  _ you _ do magic. That's your  _ thing _ , or whatever," he said dismissively, waving a hand around, "And I just want to be good at something you like."

Astrids heart tightened sweetly in her chest. She looked at Lucio, curled in on himself and feeling pity for him: a life of being terrified of his own adequacy.

"Try it one more time. If you manage it, I promise that we can strip and huddle for warmth like I suggested earlier." She said, resigning herself to the fate she was now helping orchestrate. Lucio perked up, his gray eyes flashing with renewed vigor.

"Deal! No take backs." Lucio shouted. He leaned over a clean spot on the floor, and as he began to trace the runes out, Astrid channeled some of her own power into him through where her hand connected at his knee. At first she was worried that he would notice what she was doing, but that worry soon faded: he was so inept at using magic or occult intuition that he didn't even notice her pouring power into him.

With too much flourish, Lucio clapped, and the runes exploded into vibrant light and sparks. He yelped in surprise, but delight soon took over his features. As he lept around the room with glee, Astrid smiled fondly at him. He was beginning to grow on her. Despite his (incredibly numerous) faults, she still found herself drawn to him. He made her laugh and smile, and he trusted her so completely that she couldn't help but begin to get attached to him. 

"I believe you owe me something." He whispered behind her. She spun, not realizing that he had stopped celebrating, but was now looking smug and flushed. He helped her stand, watching her so intently that she flushed under his gaze. She sighed, resigned, but her rapidly beating heart gave away her excitement. She reached behind her to untie the sash securing her dress, but she felt large hands pull them away.

"Let me." Lucio purred against her ear, running his fingers down the curve of her waist. She let him untie her dress and watched as it crumpled, heavy with ice and snow, to the ground. She had promised him, after all, and her trepidation had been readily replaced by desire. Lucio took his time exploring her with his new physical form. He ran his hands up the sides of her legs, around her waist, over her breasts, and finally between her legs. He groaned, nearly silent but mostly physical, as he pressed up behind her. His fingers dragged around her slowly, still exploring, just teasing around the spot where she wanted him to press them in. Her throat tightened and she shifted her legs apart to give him more room to explore.

"I didn't say you could do this." She panted, her breath suddenly coming quickly and the tree becoming warm around them. 

"I'm just trying to get us warm." He chuckled, this time audible, but he sounded choked, like he was holding himself back.  _ He was waiting for permission, how cute. _ Astrid threw her hand back behind her and groped around until she found what she had been interested in this whole time- the hard budge of his cock straining hard against the tightness of his pants. He groaned again, this time audibly, against the curve of her neck as she rubbed it slowly with the open palm of her hand.  _ Permission granted _ .

A dam had been broken. Whatever she had been holding off with her anger and frustration melted away as Lucio spun her around like she weighed nothing and ripped his own clothes off. Her sense of shame and pride vanished when she dropped down, unprompted, to her knees and took him into her mouth. She moaned around the girth of him when he gripped a fistful of her hair and thrust into her mouth.

"Oh, this is  _ so  _ much better than before." He sighed and ran his thumb over the spot where he bulged out against the soft side of her cheek. Astrids lips were bright red and swollen, and they tightened around him as he thrust into her mouth again. Her eyes were watering with the force at which he had pushed his cock down her throat. Lucio seemed to notice as he pulled out of her mouth and knelt in front of her. She had a dazed look about her, and her head swam with the heady chemicals that only sex could cloud her mind with. He pushed her onto her back with ease, no arguments, no ear pulling, and no snark. He was amazed with how pliant and willing she became with just a little touching.

She was a mess, tired and still half numb from the trek through the snow, but every nerve was like lightning when Lucio kissed her and thrust into the spot she wanted him most, where heat had been pooling for almost an hour. He moaned, loud and unabashed, into her ear while he fucked her. She grabbed him around the shoulders and clung to him as the force of his effort began scraping her back against the rough wooden base of the tree hollow. The air was boiling now, and Lucio's skin felt steaming beneath her fingers, but she clung to him like he was the only thing in the world keeping her from floating away, one hand knotted in his blonde hair and the other grabbing whatever she could for support. 

He kissed her again, harder than before, but the mood behind this one was different. It carried a message.  _ I'm close _ . She kissed back with the same urgency, the same swipe of the tongue at the base of the mouth that seemed to communicate the same thing:  _ me too _ . 

The end came just as suddenly as the beginning had. They had shuddered against each other in unison, the ghost of the others name not daring to slip past their lips. They laid together in a crumpled heap in the heat of the room, simply enjoying the silence and the company. The silence of the woods had been oppressive, but the silence in the tree was warm, and the air carried the smell of sweat and sex. Lucio reached across the small gap between them to pull her close, still much too exhausted to talk.  _ That'll change pretty quick _ , she grinned to herself at the thought of it. He was fun, and he made her feel a confidence in herself that she never had. It was different from any confidence she had from Asra or the Countess. Lucio had total faith in her, no sense of her previous failures or shame. It was invigorating, and she let the tender feeling wash over her as Lucio breathed heavily into her air and kept her warm.

Astrid considered the possibility that she, too, was beginning to have feelings for someone she definitely should not have feelings towards. She was especially worried that she didn't care.

She just hoped that if she fell for him, the landing wouldn't break her heart.


End file.
